Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, May 15: Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein on Friday asserted that no file related to Covid-19 would be delayed or stopped in the finance department.
The DCM’s assurance came during a press briefing at the civil secretariat here on the economic package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi under the Atmanirbhar Bharat programme.
“No Covid-19-related file will be delayed or stopped in the finance department. It will immediately be sanctioned,” said Mein.
Informing that there is sufficient fund under the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) to tackle the pandemic in the state, the DCM said several district administrations sought more funds under the SDRF during his recent tour to inspect the various check gates in the state.
“I assured them that funds would be released as per their requirements,” he said.
“Economies the world over have crumbled, and India and Arunachal Pradesh are no exception. The road ahead is tough in terms of development activities. However, the government and the people need to learn to carry out developmental activities along with Covid-19,” Mein said, adding that new projects and big projects may suffer due to the Covid-19 crisis.
Highlighting the thrust areas of the economic package announced by union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday, the DCM informed that there are six major steps for reviving the economy under the Atmanirbhar Bharat programme, including provision of collateral-free loan of Rs 3 lakh crore for MSMEs, “which would benefit 45 lakh units and help them resume work and save jobs.”
Mein also informed that a subordinate debt provision of Rs 20,000 crore has been announced for two lakh MSMEs. It will benefit stressed MSMEs and those which have non-performing assets, he said.
“The Rs 50,000 crore equity infusion through the Mother Fund-Daughter Fund for MSMEs is viable but requires handholding. A fund of funds with a corpus of Rs 10,000 crore will be set up to help these units expand their capacity and help them get listed on the markets if they choose,” the DCM added.
He also informed that global tenders would be disallowed for upto Rs 200 crore for government contracts, and that the government would ensure that e-market linkages are provided across the board in the absence of non-participation in trade fairs due to Covid-19.
“The Centre and the PSUs will clear all the receivables in the next 45 days,” Mein said.
He further informed that under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management & Planning Authority (CAMPA), projects worth Rs 6000 crore will be approved in the next 10 days.
These funds will be used for employing tribal and Adivasi people in plantation work, forest management, protection, wildlife protection management, etc, he said.
“For employees, a liquidity relief of Rs 2,500 crore EPF support is being given to all EPF establishments. The EPF contribution, which has been reduced to 10 percent from 12 percent, will be paid by the government of India. This will infuse Rs 6,750 crore liquidity into these organizations,” Mein said.
A Rs 30,000-crore special liquidity scheme will be provided to non-banking financial corporations, housing and financial corporations and micro-financing institutions for investing in grade debt paper, Mein informed.
The DCM earlier extended gratitude to the prime minister for announcing the huge economic package and tackling the Covid-19 crisis in a much more synchronized manner compared to many other countries across the globe.
